Thursday, December 22, 2011

There's nothing like freshly fried potato pancakes, and thanks to Hanukkah, you can't visit a food blog right now without seeing a gorgeous-looking potato latke recipe.

I'm quite proud of my version, so I decided to repost this video from last year. We garnished this with smoked salmon, but truth be told, my favorite way to enjoy them is topped with applesauce and sour cream. I hope you enjoy seeing this potato pancake recipe again, and if you’re watching this for the first time, I really hope you give it a try. A happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating, and as always, enjoy!

A salad spinner won't squeeze out the moisture that is inside the shreds. When I really need to do this, I use a potato ricer. When the shreds are raw they are tough enough that the ricer won't be able to extrude them through the holes, but it does get out most of the moisture.

I par-boil the grated potato for 5 minutes in a huge pot of boiling water, take them out with a large sieve and pop into very cold water. Then I wring them out tightly in a stack of clean dish towels to remove all the water. When I first tried this method, I was sure I would end up with mashed potatoes, but the potato "bits" hold their shape and the texture of the latkes is always perfect, never raw tasting on the inside. Just thought I would share....hope that's ok....thanks! Karen

Main difference from other potato pancake recipes is the soaking and drying of the potatoes. I have made them without doing this, the potatoes were still brown and crispy. Is there a particular reason for doing this?

Chef John, i just LOVE your blog!! Its amazing, your recipes are so confy and delicious!! Im from Brazil and I try to follow even when i dont find the ingredient, sometimes i change it... But works great!!!

Made these for Christmas morning breakfast. My husband said they were the best he ever had. Thanks Chef John. BTW, we made your Rum/Burbon balls today. They were a big hit also. This is my new favorite food site. The videos help me a lot. Suzy.

I see someone has already asked this question, but I don't see an answer to it yet. Why do you have to soak them, just to turn around and spend lots of time drying them off. Can you skip this step and just shred them and add the egg mixture and cook? What's the difference? Thanks!

Dear chef john,You said the only way to ruin this dish, is the water left in there after drying up,

I had no enough time, so i remembered once my mom used the washing machine drying only spin option to make some dry vegtables in a bag, i confused and used the dryer machine instead and for days our laundry smelled of rotten potatoes LOL;

another mistake, you mentioned large eggs, but i think what i used was large mentioned on the box but after mixing i had a liquid dough insted of what you got in the video :p

After all those mix ups, it turn very good actually and my family loved it :)So, thanks for the great job

you mentioned (and i have always heard) about the dangers of the potatoes oxidizing... what is the danger/result of the oxidizing? does it affect the taste? and ultimately, you have brown-"browned" potato cakes, so if the potatoes turn brown from oxidation... how/why is this a problem?

you mentioned (and i have always heard) about the dangers of the potatoes oxidizing... what is the danger/result of the oxidizing? does it affect the taste? and ultimately, you have brown-"browned" potato cakes, so if the potatoes turn brown from oxidation... how/why is this a problem?